New online broker to debut

CBS.MarketWatch.com

Austin, Texas-based CyBerCorp. will debut its online stock trading system this weekend. CEO Philip Berber said it's designed to send orders to sellers or buyers offering the best prices, including trading systems operated by Nasdaq and Electronic Communications Networks. Berber says he'll cut out the middle man, the market maker who uses these same sources, and pass the savings to the investor.

Worldwide Net to grow through 2000

As many as 200 million people around the world may be using the Internet within a year or so, according to a report from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The study, reported by the Associated Press, estimated 25 to 30 million people in more than 140 countries were on the Net at the end of last year. The Commission study also said businesses using the Web are saving as much as 95 percent on some telephone calls, fax services and banking by phone.

E-tailers seen holding holiday gains

Analysts are hopeful e-tailers including Amazon.com (AMZN)
AMZN, -0.11%
and Ebay Inc. (EBAY)
EBAY, +2.24%
have been able to post sales greater than those they recorded during the Christmas selling season. The reason this is possible is the number of new people discovering the Web and shopping online, according to BancBoston Robertson Stephens analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan, Dow Jones reported. She estimates Amazon lost 29 cents a share on $260 million in revenue in the first quarter, compared with a 14-cent-a-share loss on $252.9 million in revenue in the fourth quarter. However, she believes Amazon will most likely beat her estimate, the report said, since its customer base has been growing rapidly.

Perhaps following in the acquisition trail of America Online (AOL)
aol
, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
MSFT, +1.03%
is reported in negotiations to buy online calendar service Jump Networks. About a week ago, AOL used an estimated $150 million of its stock to acquire When.com, explaining date and event scheduling on the Web is a powerful "sticky" application (one that is likely to hold users attention) which also offers e-commerce cross-promotion opportunities. Jump Networks went on the Web in mid-January, including a free online personal calendar and tie-ins with content sources including Reuters and the Weather Channel. Microsoft's interest in Jump was reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Spinner.com is reported planning to get into the online auction business with a music-oriented sales site. In partnership with CityAuction, the streaming music Web service will provide a venue for people to sell vinyl albums, CDs, tapes and music memorabilia, Ziff Davis reported. CityAuction is a subsidiary of USA (USAI)
usai
Networks' TicketMaster-CitySearch.

Network TV programmers use Net for feedback

Web pages, discussion rooms and chat groups are becoming common sources for television program producers searching for feedback from fans and viewers. "It?s great to have this volume of input," says John Romano, an executive producer of the young-skewing Fox drama Party of Five who regularly monitors online chatter, USA Today reported. He added, "It?s like what we used to call ?water cooler talk'." Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television, said, "It?s like having free focus groups." The Fox network passes several hundred e-mail messages from viewers, to program producers, weekly. And next week CBS's network programmers will receive summaries of e-mails to the network's CBS.com Web site, the newspaper reported.

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